Kyle's Sacrifice
by CharmedMoon84
Summary: Kyle's attempt to protect him from a gun wielding maniac leaves Stan angry and alone.
1. Chapter 1

Standing in front of Stan as a sort of shield, Kyle glared at the guy who stood a few feet away from the two boys with the gun he held being aimed directly at Kyle's chest.

"If you're going to shoot someone, then shoot me," he said.

"What are you doing?" the darker haired brunette boy asked just as the guy fired the gun.

The next thing he knew, his friend was slumped against him while a slow spread of red made its way across the front of his orange jacket. He knelt down with this friend still slumped against him. Placing his wounded friend on the ground, he looked at his friend as he removed his jacket and his white under shirt before he tore his white undershirt into strips in an attempt to stem the flow of red that was steadily and slowly widening. Their gazes met.

"Why did you do that? It was pretty stupid of you," he said.

Kyle managed to smile despite the waves of pain that were constantly coursing throughout his entire body.

"Isn't that what friends are supposed to do for each other?" he asked before lapsing into a coughing fit.

During his friend's brief coughing fit, the darker brunette boy glanced down at the strips of his white t-shirt and noticed that they were completely drenched with his friend's blood.

"Stay with me. The ambulance will be here soon."

"Don't lie to me. The ambulance won't get here in time," the dying redhead weakly replied.

Stan felt his temper slowly rising.

"Don't you dare leave me!" he snapped.

"I don't want to. But I don't have much of a choice here."

Overcome by a second coughing fit, the redhead stopped talking while a small trickle of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.

"I-I'm so cold," he managed to say before his eyes glazed over and his body went still.

He shook his friend but there was no reponse. Stan lay across the now lifeless body of his friend and cried long and hard, ignoring the guy with the gun who still stood behind him who had reloaded the gun and aimed the gun at him. Gently closing his now deceased friend's eyes, the dark brunette rose and slowly faced the man.

"You just killed my best friend. Go ahead! Kill me too! At least I'll see him again. Pull the trigger and shoot me. Please."

The guy slowly lowered the gun he held, seeing both sorrow and anger reflected in Stan's eyes before his gaze went to the body of the boy he'd just shot and killed still laying on the ground where Stan had placed him.

"I-I can't, kid. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry," the man said as he dropped the gun on the ground before he turned and ran off. Stan watched as the gun hit the ground, heard a bang as it went off and winced at the sudden, sharp pain that washed through his stomach area as the bullet entered his body. His bare hands instantly went over the wound on his stomach and when he pulled them away, saw that they were tainted red. He fell to his knees before he pitched forward. He lay there on his stomach while the blood streamed out from beneath him, slowly creeping into the cracks of the sidewalk. He started losing consciousness and as he did, thought he saw his friend approaching him.

_'So, this is what it's like to die,'_ he thought as his friend got closer.

By the time his friend stood directly opposite him, the dark brunette felt strength returning to his body and he managed to get to his feet. As he approached his friend, he saw Kyle motioning for him to stop. Frowning, he continued to approach his friend until both boys stood only a foot or two away from each other.


	2. Chapter 2

With the space of only a foot or two between them, Kyle's gaze locked with his best friend's.

"I know how much you want to join me in death, but it's not your time quite yet. You've got so much more left to do on Earth. As for me, my time was up. Go back to your body. Your family and girlfriend both need you. When your time's offically up, I'll return for you. I promise," the redhead said softly as the space between the two boys widened and Stan felt himself being slammed back into his body.

Coming to, he found that he was presently lying in a hospital bed. As his focus began to clear, he saw that both of his two remaining friends as well as his family were all seated in hospital chairs around his bed. He slowly blinked and let out a light groan, feeling the heavy bandage that covered the gun shot wound on his stomach area. Hearing him groan, the blonde looked over and grinned at seeing him conscious.

"Look, he's awake."

His parents joined him.

"Honey, how are you feeling?" his mom questioned.

"Like I've been shot."

He attempted to sit up, winced and returned to his present position.

"Easy there, son. We don't need you to be taken back to the O.R.," his dad cautioned.

Stan was confused.

"The O.R.? What happened?"

Both his parents looked at each other.

"During the surgery to remove the bullet that was lodged in your stomach area, you briefly flatlined. It was touch and go with you for a little bit, but the doctors were able to finally stabilize you."

"Oh. When can I get out of here?" he questioned.

"Not for a while yet, son," his dad replied.

"What does that mean? I want out of here now."

"I know you do, son, but you lost a lot of blood. The doctors want you to stay in the hospital for a few days. We came really close to losing you."

He slumped back against the hospital pillows.

"Oh."

Just then, the hospital room door opened and Dr. Xanfield entered the room. Seeing that Stan was awake, she smiled and approached the group of four people who were currently gathered around his hospital bed.

"Hello, Stan. I'm Dr. Gillian Xanfield. How are you feeling?" she asked him.

He just stared at her, not quite sure how to answer her question.

"I see. Just thought I'd come to see how you were doing."

"Dr. Xanfield, when will I be able to be released from the hospital?" he suddenly asked her.

"Not until you've completely healed from the gunshot wound you received to your stomach area," she replied.

"How long will that take?"

"At least a month, maybe sooner then a month. It's pretty much up to you," she replied.

"Oh. Ok."

Dr. Xanfield quickly checked her patient's chart before she left the room. Both of his parents looked at him.

"Get some rest, ok. We'll see you tomorrow," his mom told him.

"Ok, mom," he replied.

His two friends also decided to to leave, but not before promising to come by the next day as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Stan's sleep that night was fitful as he relived the last few minutes of his best friend's life. He woke up a couple of different times during the night, drenched in a light sweat. As he lay there in the near darkness of his hospital room, he felt the silent stream of tears slowly making their way down the sides of his face and he also felt his body starting to shake with the nearly quiet sobs that made their way up and down his frame. He missed his best friend so badly, the pain of his death made the brunette feel like his heart wanted nothing more then to stop beating for good.

Just as he was thinking that, a smal ball of light appeared anid the darkness of the room and slowly grew larger until it took the form of his deceased best friend. The slightly transparent shade of Kyle looked at his hospital bound friend.

"I know how much you miss me, but you need to have patience before you're able to join me," the deceased redhead reminded his friend.

"It's just that it's too painful to not have you in my life anymore."

"I understand that, but I've already told you that you still have your whole life to live. You're not quite that ready to leave."

"If you understand that, then why did you leave me behind?" he asked softly.

The redhead's see through form studied his wounded friend for a few minutes before he replied to his friend's question.

"I didn't exactly choose to leave you behind on Earth, but my number was up."

Silence followed his statement.

"I've got to go back. Good-bye, my friend. Until we meet again."


	4. Chapter 4

Seated in the church aisle beside his two remaining friends, Stan looked at the casket containing the body of his best friend. Placing his hands on the wheels of the wheelchair, he wheeled himself up the aisle towards the casket that rested on the table at the front of the church. Since his release from the hospital three days ago, the doctors cautioned him against moving around too much, hence the wheelchair he was presently seated in. He stopped the wheelchair when he got close enough to the open casket while also ignoring the gazes of the people who were seated behind him.

Looking at the peaceful face of his deceased best friend, he felt himself slowly growing angry that his best friend was just lying there motionless in the casket. His hands clenched into fists while his mom rose from her seat behind him and slowly approached him before she walked around his wheelchair in order to crouch down in front of him so their gazes met.

"Honey, I know how angry you are that your friend left you, but now isn't the right time for that anger to manifest itself," she said in a low, soft voice.

Tears filling his eyes, Stan knew she had a point, so he gave a brief nod and allowed his mom to wheel him back to his original place towards the middle of the church alongside his two friends. He tried to pay attention during the funeral, but found his thoughts wandering. Finally, frusrated, he leaned over and murmured something into his blonde friend's ear, who currently sat next to him. Nodding slightly, he got off the pew, moved past his wheelchair bound friend and proceeded to wheel him out of the church.


	5. Chapter 5

Six months later, Stan made his way through the cemetery, a bundle of flowers clutched in his left hand as he headed towards the grave of his friend. When he got there, however, he found that at least one of his two remaining friends was aready there. He knelt down and placed his bundle of flowers beside the ones that had been placed on the grave already before he stood up. The two boys stood there for a few minutes, the silence thick between them. Kenny looked over at the dark brunette who was beside him.

"How are you holding up? We haven't seen you very much since Kyle's funeral," he said.

"i know," he replied.

Another silence fell between the boys.

"I guess I'm holding up okay. I still really miss him," the dark brunette added.

"Everyone does," the blonde replied.

He paused.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't say everyone," he amended.

"Yeah. That's true. Even though it's been six months since he died, I still find it hard to accept the fact that he's never coming back."

The brunette paused.

"I mean, he willingly gave his life for me. Then, I accidently get myself shot by the gun that took him away from me. I wanted to join him in heaven, but he wouldn't let me go with him. He told me that I still had too much to do in this life before I'd be allowed to reunite with him in heaven."

"Oh."

"I don't even know what he meant by that."

The two boys turned and headed away from Kyle's final resting place, failing to notice the two spirits that appeared beside the gravesite. Abby Pierceson looked up at the redhead.

"Why did we leave heaven to come down here?"

"To show you the boy who'd become your dad one day," the redhead replied as he pointed at the retreating forms of both Stan and Kenny.

"So, which of those two boys will become my eventual dad?" she asked.

"The brunette on the right, Abby," the redhead replied with slightly strained patience.

"Oh. Ok," Abby added as she looked at the brunette haired boy.


End file.
